Road Trippin' with Northwestern Through the Big Ten: Destination—Iowa

This was the view from WNUR's broadcast location at Kinnick Stadium. I do a lot of work for WNUR Sports, and I can thank them for the opportunity to witness for free NU's stunning victory over Iowa on Saturday.

In my opinion, it's the biggest win for the NU program since the historic 54-51 victory over Michigan in 2000.

I have some other random thoughts on this win that I'll remember forever.

There’s a reason why Dan Persa was offered a scholarship by Big East powerhouse West Virginia out of high school.

A lot of fans—and by fans, I mean the eager posters on Wildcat Report—were convinced after Persa couldn’t do much against Penn State that he would NEVER be the answer at quarterback. The reality is that NU will be more than fine in the years to come with Persa.

Given a whole week to prepare for a game, Persa came through admirably when called upon to spell the still injury-hampered Mike Kafka. He threw the only TD pass of the game for NU and led all NU players in rushing yards.

He’s actually faster than even a healthy Kafka in my opinion, and everyone needs to remember that he’s just a sophomore. At this stage, I’m more impressed with him than I was with either Kafka or C.J. Bacher when they were sophomores.

I really hope his hand injury wasn’t too severe, because the more experience he gets this season, the better he will be in 2010 and 2011.

Scott Concannon is tough as nails.

He’s not fast, and he doesn’t run people over, but Scott Concannon does the little things you need to win. On multiple occasions down the stretch, “Cut-Cannon” made some slick moves to get extra yardage at the point of attack.

The blocking from the offensive line remains atrocious, but right now Concannon is the only NU running back who can make something out of nothing, and that’s why he’s starting.

Is he the future at the position? Probably not. I want to see what Mike Trumpy and Alex Daniel can do next year, and I still think if Arby Fields learns the offense and learns how to block, he could be good as well. But if they do end up using Concannon, you can rest assured he’ll more than hold his own like he did Saturday.

The NU defense is quietly putting together an amazing season against the run.

Iowa ran for a mere 65 yards on Saturday. They are only surrendering 117.1 rushing yards per game. If the season ended today, that would be a new school record for fewest rushing yards allowed per game. The Hawkeyes were the fourth team they’ve held to under 100 yards rushing this year.

Give the linebackers a lot of credit for their outstanding run defense. There might not be a more underrated unit than David Arnold, Nate Williams, and Quentin Davie. Davie in particular should be in line for All-Big Ten honors at the end of the year.

Jeremy Ebert is going to come up big in the final two weeks.

I have no factual basis for this statement, but remember, he was extremely effective as a true freshman, which is rare at Northwestern. He’s been slow in his recovery from an offseason injury, but I think he’s on the verge of re-emerging as a big-time threat in the NU offense.

You heard it here first: He’s scoring his first TD of the year in next Saturday’s game against Illinois.

Northwestern never lost at Kinnick Stadium during my time at Northwestern.

And I was lucky enough to be in attendance broadcasting two of those wins. If it weren't for the student media at Northwestern, I don't think I'd be able to afford to take all these amazing road trips, and for that I am grateful.

I'll be taking another road trip this weekend to Illinois, where NU will look to eliminate the Illini from bowl contention for the second consecutive year.

No matter what happens, it won't be as satisfying as knocking off the Hawkeyes from their undefeated perch.

Now it's time for NU to win out, and a road trip to a very warm bowl destination will be in the works.